Compromise of 1877

The Compromise of 1877 was an informal and unwritten deal between US President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes of the US Republican Party and the Southern Democrats that ended the Reconstruction era. The US Democratic Party would acknowledge Hayes' fair accession to the presidency (he had lost the popular vote, but had won the election by one electoral vote), the American South would be industrialized and utilized for the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad, the last US Army troops would be withdrawn from South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, and Southern Democrat David M. Key of Tennessee would be appointed Postmaster-General under the Hayes administration. Some southerners felt that Tilden had been cheated, but they were prevented from marching on Washington DC by President Ulysses S. Grant, who had troops at the ready to repulse them. Many Republicans also felt cheated, as their control over the South was eliminated as the Democratic "Solid South" was formed.